Senior Companion . . . . I am so not ready

 These are the last of the pictures with my and Sister Bitter.. such a bitter sweet time(: hahahhahah Bitter..

I got a christmas package tht was aweosme from grandpa and cc!!! THank you so much!!! in one of the pictures the barbie ran into the tree... look familiar? haha that wasn't planned.. it just kinda happened.!!! (: hahahahha

I really wanted to cook brownies... so I cooked them in the toaster oven... they burnt, so I tried the rice cooker. it worked better(: hahahha 

 

The baptism of Sister Lynlyn(: and our special guests, President and Sister Lopez!!! (: and My new companion Sister Doud!

 Well hello everyone!!! As you all know, thanks to our super efficient facebooking president you all know that I have a new companion and that i'm the senior companion. And wowza... I am so not ready!! I was praying that I wouldn't be a senior companion until like 4 transfers in ... well... that didn'[t come true. Being a senior companion is hard... all the the responsibility falls onto your shoulders and it is crazy how much you actually have to talk to the people... which stinks because I stink at Ilonggo... ANYWAYS, Heavenly father wants me to learn something that can't wait... so I'll just take whatever he throws at me. hahahhaha. get it?

My new Companion is Sister Doud! She is from Utah, and we were actually at the MTC together, she is 2 weeks older than me in the mission. We never MET at the MTC, but I remember seeing her, cause her class room was across the hall. Its so crazy how she is like here now.. She was one of the lucky ones that didn't have to see all the crazy stuff that was happening in Tacloban. Her area was way north, thank goodness.  

so its been kinda a rough week... I have only worked one day because my companion tripped and skinned her leg and refuses to work. SO.... I've just been staying inside all week. I'm going crazy!!! I think I"m supposed to learn Patience or something. hahah So i've been studying it really alot so I can learn it already! (: haha. But I think my companion is having a kinda hard time adjusting to our mission. compared to her mission, our mission is really really strict. one of them said that their mission was a telestial mission and ours is a celestial mission.... that is really sad, but i have really come to love the fact that we hvae rules and we are all exactly obedient. In the back of my mind i think that taht is why Bacolod was saved from the typhoon. (: but really though. Just pray for my companion... she needs all the prayers she can get right now. I am constantly praying for her.

Sister Lynlyn was baptized on saturday! I sent pictures! She was so happy!!!!!!! I was so happy. She was so ready. I love the desire in people when they have felt the spirit  and they want to follow Jesus Christ. it is so amazing. 

I got Grandpa and Cc's christmas package!!! It was awesome. I had been praying all day that I would get something in the mail, and I did!!! I got a package, 2 letters from aunt chris, and another package of letters. it was AWESOME!! I decorated my desk right away with the manger scene! it looks so good! Thank you so much! ANd the Mild sauce!!! Seriously,,, this is so gross but i opened like 2 of the sauce packets and just drank the sauce.... it was so good!!! hahhahahahahha(: you know me!

well, that is all for this week. I know its short, and kinda spaced out... but... (: I am just learning a lot about lots of things(: hahah

I love you all,

love, your sister missionary,

Sister Young

Emergency transfers, new companions from Tacloban

Sister Doud (new arrival) and her senior companion Sister Young

Brown Out -- sorry for the delay

Usually, I keep little notes of what I want to write to you all on monday so I don't go brain dead when I get here to the computer... and I didn't do it this week. forgive me(:

We had mission Presidents training on tuesday, I believe you already know that if you follow President Lopez on Facebook... It was really good. I learned alot. But He started it off with a silent video clip of the damage in Tacloban... I couldn't hold back my tears. It was so heartbreaking. We could even see some dead bodies, and just the mess that is there. If I was there i wouldn't even kow where to start cleaning it up. There has been a lot of efforts being put together here to donate stuff to them. It is really amazing to see how helpful and caring everyone is. It is sad though that there has to be a disaster inorder for that to happen.

A couple of nights ago, we went and contacted a referral from one of our recent converts! So we walked in to this house and up some steps and there she was. She was really old, 79, and soooooooo skinny. and blind. She was trying so hard to see us but she couldn't. I was so sad for her. but as I sat on the floor next to her, and held her hand and introduced myself to her, I could feel the spirit in the room! It was amazing. We sang her a song and she asked about the book of mormon. we are teaching her grandkids and i think they have been reading to her. (: so we talked a little about that and then we talked about prayer. it was just an amazing lesson!!! I hope we can continue to teach her! She is so precious.

Our c- cad friend(: he is awesome!

 

We had a baptism this week! Brother Robert Tan, he is 45 ish, and has been investigating the church for a while and he finally was baptized!!! At his baptism i wrote down my feelings in my planner so I wouldn't forget, I'll tell them to you right now,

    "BROTHER ROBERTS BAPTISM!!!(: A baptism is fast and if you don't pay attention you can miss the spirit wrap you in his arms again to remind you of the covenant that you made with heavenly father years ago... How thankful I am to have the opportunity to be reminded so often of the covenant I made and be wrapped in his ever familiar arms... I love it!"

This is so true.... Sometimes we are so preoccupied that we just don't feel the spirit, and we forget how to recognize the spirit.

Then at yesterday, at his confirmation in sacrament meeting the spirit was there again reminding me of the blessings that I received. it was amazing. after the meeting Brother was so happy! And he told us with a big smile on his face, "Finally, I am a latter-day saint!" wow, he has such a great testimony!

I am so thankful for him and for his example to me. (:

Also, one of our recent converts, of like 4 or 5 months, Was able to break the bread and bless the water! What a tender moment. He came up to me before sacrament and told me. then told me that his heart was pounding so hard and that he was scared and nervous... I told him that I was so happy for him and that more importantly, heavenly father was happy for him! My heart was warm as I listened to his nervous fragile voice blessing the water, what a special experience!!! In a few weeks he will be a pro at it!(: I am so proud of him!

Merry Christmas!

Sorry, brown out... i lost all of my train of thought. thank goodness google saves my messages as drafts!!!

We just got a call on the phone that Sister Bitter is transferring.... and emergency transfer. She is going to be a sister training leader. she is a bit scared. ANd I will be getting  a new companion from the Tacloban mission. I am so scared too.... we wont speak the same language. And I don't really know how to deal with all the trauma that she must have just went through.... and i am so sad that I won't be with my favorite companion anymore. We had so many plans!!! oh well, the work will continue.

I love you all.

Love, your sister missionary,
sister Young

 so I just got an email from a friend that attatched an article of some of the missionary in tacloban experience.

plus... I just found out that I'll be a companion to one of them starting tomorrow. some are being assigned in my misison. i am so nervous

I am well. just trying to figure out life and all that comes with it.

 I attached this article from the font page of the paper. Sister Maleatoa was one of the 10 sisters in this article, at least that is what it says. It just breaks my heart. and I have seen so many pics of her this week. and the sister smith in this article was in the MTC with us. so it is all just so insane.

I LOVE YOU!!!

MANILA, Philippines — The water was rising fast.

In the darkness of early morning, Amanda Smith moved away from the window to shield her face from the slashing rain. She had shut it just moments before to ward off the raging storm whipping through the palm trees outside.
But now the wind had ripped it open, and the wooden shutters were slamming violently against the wall again and again. Sister Smith, an LDS missionary from Elk Ridge, Utah, couldn’t see anything outside, but she could smell the sea, which seemed to be getting closer and closer. They had to get out of here.
She had heard about the storm three days before, from a driver of a pedicab. It was typhoon season, and tropical storms were common in the Philippines. Still, the last storm warning had produced nothing but blue skies. Some of the missionaries wondered if this time would be any different.
There were nine missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her in the house, a two-story structure made of cement blocks. They were young women from Utah and Alaska and the Philippines, all about her own age, 19. They had done what they could to prepare, hastily assembling 72-hour kits, and had even bought candles and rope, just like their mission president had asked, even though no one in the house thought either would be necessary.
Now, as water roared down the streets toward them, Sister Smith realized no preparations were too small. The worst storm in generations had just hit landfall.
Bracing for the worst
More than 300 miles to the north, in an apartment in the capital of Manila, Elder Ian S. Ardern sat watching CNN. A former mission president with salt and pepper hair and an easy smile, he couldn’t help but feel a looming sense of dread about what was unfolding. On the screen, the typhoon churned, a monster on a path no one could stop. Winds would eventually reach 200 miles per hour.
As first counselor in the Philippine Area Presidency, Elder Ardern worried directly about the 675,000 LDS Church members living in the Philippines, particularly the thousands living in the eye of the storm in and around a city of 235,000 called Tacloban, as well as the entire population.
A native of New Zealand, he had seen his fair share of typhoons, and knew firsthand their destructive power. He hoped the members, and the young missionaries, had heeded the call to prepare.
Days before the storm hit, his office had been sending out warnings to the 21 mission presidents in the Philippines, with maps regularly updating and charting the course of the typhoon. Prepare emergency kits, they had advised. And get to a safe place, which for many members meant a chapel.
The area presidency had asked each of the mission presidents to call in when the storm subsided to report damages and the status of their missionaries. Elder Ardern watched the news as the sun began to rise over the Philippines and waited for the first phone call to come in. He braced for the worst.
Rising panic

Sister Smith had always wanted to be a missionary, ever since she was a little girl growing up in Minnesota, toting her scriptures to Primary, learning to play hymns like “I am a Child of God” on the piano. She’d put in her mission papers as soon as she turned 19.

 

She had been excited to go to the Philippines. But in some ways, she seemed too delicate for this place, with her long, willowy build and fine porcelain skin. The Philippines wasn’t exactly clean, and some things had taken getting used to — rice for every meal, the choking smell of exhaust on the clogged streets, cold showers from a bucket. But she had also fallen in love with the place — the sweet smell of mangos, the effervescence of the people, the way the language of Waray-Waray had started to roll off the tongue.
One day she sat down on a stool to teach a lesson in a dirt-floor shack and out of nowhere three fuzzy chicks materialized and walked around her legs, the way birds landed on Cinderella’s shoulder, and she thought: What is this magical place?
She had been out five months, her latest area called San Jose, where some of Tacloban’s richest and poorest residents live, some in nice apartments, others in shacks of bamboo and cardboard, a tarp stained by the smoke of cooking fires the only thing passing for a roof, roosters and stray dogs running at their feet.
San Jose sits right on the sea, and so a few days before the storm, just to be safe, the mission president’s assistants (two young men, elders who help the president) asked her and her companion to come farther inland, which is where she was now, with nine other sister missionaries, in a house quickly filling with a black, mucky water.
As the storm worsened, she could feel the house shaking, metal poles outside snapping, animals howling and squealing.
At first, the sisters had all gathered in one central room on the second floor, thinking it the safest place in the house. But the water was now rising to their knees. Metal bars covered every window, preventing an escape outside. With no other choice they would have to go to the first floor, where the water nearly reached the ceiling, and try to open the front door to get out.
They knew the current could pull them out into the ocean, but if they stayed where they were now, they would drown in what had essentially become a box of cement walls.
One by one the sisters slipped into the freezing water on the first floor. A few couldn’t swim; they held tight to their companions. Some of the women started to cry.
Sister Smith was scared too, but she was determined not to let it show. She wanted to stay calm for the others.
The front door was locked with a metal latch on the bottom and the top. One of the sisters dived under the water and unlocked the bottom latch; another reached the top and did the same. But when they tried to open the door it wouldn’t budge. The water pressing from the outside and inside had sealed it shut.
What had been ebbing as a low level panic reached hysteria for some of the sisters, who began weeping and sobbing. Sister Smith could feel the panic rising in her chest too, but she had to stay calm. With a few of the other sisters who had become leaders of the group, she started to sing hymns, their voices muted by the stinky water rising to their chins. They quoted scripture. They prayed. Sister Smith put on a brave face, not daring to say aloud what she was thinking:
“I never thought this is where my life would end.”
Finding survivors
As the storm subsided, the phone in Elder Ardern’s office started to ring. One by one, the presidents of the 21 missions in the Philippines called in, reporting that all their missionaries were safe and accounted for. Except for one. The president from the Tacloban mission never called.
As Elder Ardern waited, the phone rang. Parents from Idaho and Texas called in, frantic for news of their children. The wives of the area presidency took most of the calls, assuring parents that as soon as they had word they’d let them know the status of their missionary children.
More than 24 hours passed and the area presidency still hadn’t heard any word on the status of the 204 Tacloban missionaries. Elder Ardern was pacing when an email finally came in from the mission president. The 38 missionaries in the city of Tacloban were safe. He had negotiated with local government officials to send an email on the only functioning Internet portal in town. As soon as he found the rest of his missionaries he’d be in touch, he promised.
Cell service was still impossible, and would be for days, if not weeks. Elder Ardern was relieved, but also worried about the rest of the mission.
The area presidency dispatched every church employee in Cebu and Manila — security and building maintenance and church welfare and others — to go to Tacloban to search for members. They would travel the six hours from Cebu to Tacloban to count survivors, return to Cebu to find a working phone or Internet connection to make a report to church headquarters in Manila, and then head back out in to the wreckage to find more survivors and help.
In one Mormon congregation alone, 95 percent of the members saw their homes destroyed. Scores had lost family members, many carried out to sea with the current, never to return.
Praying for a miracle
The sister missionaries worked together. Sister Schaap punched a hole through an opening in a flimsy wall, and the group of 10 swam through the murky water that would soon carry their journals and clothes and pots and pans out to sea. Those who couldn’t swim clung tightly to their companions.
The sisters used the rope to reach a nearby roof. Sister Smith stood on the rain gutter, the other nine sister missionaries shivering beside her, the rain still coming down in sheets. Hours had passed since the beginning of the storm, and yet the sky above Tacloban was still gray, shrouded by fog.
Sister Smith said thoughts of dying left her mind. But some of the sisters appeared pale and their bodies were shaking. The water was still rising and they feared it would engulf them.
One of the sisters suggested they pray. They huddled closely together, bowed their heads, and with the rain dripping down their chins, asked God to make the water stop. And then, in what Sister Smith could only describe as the greatest miracle of her life, the sea stopped rising.
Rescue
By the time Elder Ardern arrived in Tecloban four days after the storm, the water had receded, leaving a putrid scene of destruction in its wake. Bloated bodies lay exposed on the sides of the road, some covered by a blanket, or rusty corrugated roofing, others by a moldy piece of cardboard. The stench was sickening.
At one point, the city had tried to conduct a mass burial for 200, but had turned its trucks around when they heard gunfire.
The city had descended into chaos and lawlessness. Survivors of the typhoon had broken into stores that hadn’t been flattened to steal televisions and toys, food, even light fixtures, despite the fact that there was no electricity.
Hours after the storm, the president’s two assistants had made the walk from the mission home to the house where the sisters had been staying. The house was destroyed but they had to kick through the door to get inside. When they found no one, they feared the worse, a sense that only heightened when a neighbor told them they’d seen four sisters leaving for a nearby elementary school.
“There were supposed to be 10,” one of the elders said.
They found all 10 at a nearby elementary school, and soon learned the story of the escape from the house and the hours spent on the roof, praying for someone to find them.
With the sisters now accounted for, the assistants and other missionaries assigned to the mission office fanned out through the city, trying to find the rest of their mission force. A dense cloud cover prevented even satellite phones from working, meaning the missionaries had no way to communicate with missionaries serving in outlying areas.
But these missionaries, they said guided by the spirit and survival instincts, made their way to the mission home. Some walked for four hours. Others hitched a ride on a motorcycle, relying on the kindness of strangers unsure how to feed their own children. One group of missionaries cobbled together more than a thousand dollars and made their way to Tacloban by boat. All 204 missionaries were now accounted for.
The two assistants to the president, one from Dallas and the other from Fiji, stayed with the 10 sisters and others at the mission home, supporting each other, especially at night when gunshots rang out.
With their own food running low, the assistants, under the direction of their mission president, decided they had to make their way to the airport. So before dawn, four days after the storm but again in pouring rain, they headed out with their flashlights pointing the way through the darkness.
“It was the hardest thing,” said one of the assistants. “People had gotten so hungry they had begun to attack each other. The worst part was the smell, the stench of death.”
Some sisters, their feet blistered, could barely walk. The looting had become more severe, and the missionaries had heard rumors that prisoners at the jail, which had lost its electricity and its guards, had simply walked out. The assistants stood at the front and back of the long line of missionaries — dozens and dozens — as they made the long march to the airport.
As they walked, Elder Ardern tried to arrange a flight out. He had booked flights in Manila, but thousands of other survivors had mobbed the Tacloban airport. The ticket agent told him if he wanted a flight out, he’d have to pay more to get his 204 missionaries to safety.
As Elder Ardern tried other options, the missionaries milled about what was left of the airport terminal, its walls blasted out by the gale force winds of the storm. And then, a final miracle.
An Army sergeant with a C-130 airplane, assigned by the U.S. government to fly Americans out of the disaster area, said he had a feeling he should walk through the terminal one more time. As he did, he saw out of the corner of his eye what looked like the nametag of a Mormon missionary. The sergeant, a Mormon himself, asked if the missionary was American. When he said he was, the sergeant told him he could arrange flights out for all the Americans and foreigners in his C-130.
Before the day had ended, many of the missionaries Elder Ardern had come for were flying out of Tecloban. By week’s end, all of the missionaries in the area would be evacuated to Manila, where they would await a new assignment in other missions in the Philippines.
The Road Ahead
It’s a Saturday afternoon in Manila, a week after the storm, the air hot and sticky. Sister Amanda Smith and the nine other survivors are sitting on a bench on the well-manicured grounds of the Philippine Missionary Training Center, talking to a television crew from New York. Their story of survival and resistance will inspire millions, they are told.
Still, it is hard for most of them to talk about their experience, and the things they saw. They said night terrors awake them. And so, just as they did during the storm, they sing hymns and say quiet prayers, hoping for peace, and an ability to leave behind the terror of what they witnessed.
And yet, there is a part of them that wishes they could go back, to help those members and non-members alike, who are still stuck. They are comforted to know that the church has never stopped searching for those that are lost, and that in the coming weeks church officials, from Salt Lake and throughout the Philippines, will continue to push food and medical supplies, blankets and tents, into the areas most affected by the typhoon, to provide relief to Filipinos, whether they are Mormons or not, part of a rescue operation that includes dozens of non-governmental organziations (NGO's), faith groups and governments from around the world.
When the interview with the TV crew is over, Sister Smith and the other sisters hurry to a parking lot, where the missionaries evacuated from Tecloban are boarding vans that will take them to their new area. They hug and cry, bonded by a tragedy they never saw coming, but one they were surprisingly prepared for.
For many, their missions are just beginning.
“It was such a terrible thing we witnessed,” Sister Smith said. “But I learned so much about how people will come together to help others, expecting nothing in return. I saw that from other missionaries, and I saw that from the Philippine people. It’s a lesson I hope I never forget.”

I'm safe and alive..

As I sit here and ponder on what I should write about this week... I feel like I should inform all of you that I have felt all of your prayers, thank you. Thank you for praying for my investigators, my ward, my companion and I... everyone here in the Philippines. We all needed it.

You know, us as missionaries live under a shell.... for example, we had no idea that this was a SUPER typhoon.... we were just told to stay inside for 2 almost 3 days. The first day, it was so hard, there was not alot of rain, and not much wind. I complained to my companion that I just wanted to go out and teach...

We live across the street from some of the Couple missionaries. They came over to visit and deliver some cookies (a tender mercy) that is when Elder Anderson got the text from President telling him what was going on... plus he had been watching it on tv. So he told us a little bit about it. Thats when I complained to my companion that our parents and family were probably praying for our safety but they should be really praying for our sanity, cause I had no idea how bad it really was. ...

That night we went to sleep and there was still not a lot of difference, it has rained harder that this before. The next morning we woke up and did our weekly planning, at about 8 ish the rain started. and the wind started. I wasn't scared at all....infact I was dissapointed. I expected MORE I WANTED more.... Well, I got more. My companion and I sad at our beds and watched the wind bend trees, the tin on our roof was getting blown off... there was so much rain.. our road was a river.

It was a lot, but I still complained to my companion that that was a lame storm... I wanted it to be scary. There were times when I was spooked.... so I played a borrowed violin. I played through the hymns.... it was soothing.

The power went out, and the water then shut off. I think we were the most prepared missionaries.  Remember when I had to buy fresh water all the time? we had saved all those 6liter bottles and filled them up so we had plenty of water. And its a good thing too, cause we still don't have water...

On saturday we got to go out and help people with the damages.... But when we went out... you could tell that there was alot of wind and stuff, but nothing was really torn to shreds... it was so weird. So, I complained to my companion again. (are you catching on yet?)

We got to our area and one of our investigators, Rowel, lives in a tarp house. literally. he has no walls... they are just tarps. they were torn to shreds. like there was hardly anyghing left. as we started helping him clean up he and his family were trying to put the tattered tarps back up to make walls... they have no money to get new tarps... it BROKE MY HEART. We can't do anything financially to help them. its against the rules. There were babies that live there... I can't imagine what it was like for them. they were probebly screaming and crying, soaking wet, and cold. And when it was all over, they couldn't really FIX anything. it was so heart breaking.

Then we went to another investigator that we were really worried about. Emelita, sho was actually baptized last month. Her house was okay, a little flooding, but not too bad. We went to Maribel, another RC. The back of her house, where there were two walls made of cement.... gone. I have no idea where they went. Her house was flooded.

Then we went to a less active. They... barely had a house to start with.....

Down by the river, there is a house in a tree... it was gone, the river had flooded.... heart breaking. it is so hard for me to talk about it. I feel so bad for all these beautiful people. what have they done to deserve this?

That was all for the destruction here. Not too bad. Other than we have no running water or electricity.

Yesterday it was fast sunday. I was touched so deeply as members got up to bear their testimonies of prayer, and the hand of the lord in their lives. Thats where I started to realize just how bad this Yolanda had been to the philippines. But there was one testimony that really stuck out to me. She was talking about Tithing and how she knew that she would be okay because she pays her tithng faithfully. and she said this, "I would rather SUFFER for a MOMENT while my body aches for food, or while I worry about if I can pay my bills, than SUFFER FOR A LIFETIME because I didn't TRUST my heavenly father and his blessings." I think everyone can learn from what she said. Think about that again.

Yesterday in sacrament THe four of us sisters sang/played a musical number. I of course played the violin cause i sing terribly, we sang/played lead kindly light. as we were doing it I was looking out to the members, and I could see the PHYSICAL presence of the holy ghost as he comforted their pained hearts, and their worried minds.

Later, we went to an appointemt, and thats where I found out a little bit more of the destruction.... That people in cebu had died. that the flooding was so huge. ANd how much of a miricle it was that it basically split right over bacolod. On our walk home, I cried. Tears ran down my face as i remembered how much I had complained. "why isn't this more scary?" "why should my family be worried about my safetly?" "why isn't the desctrution worse?"  How stupid could I be. Why was I just worried about myself? Just because I wanted to have the glory of living through the biggest typhoon in the whole wide world. I'm so stupid.

My heart goes out to all the families that lost loved ones. This is just another reason why everyone NEEDS the gospel. Everyone. It doesn't matter if you are mad at someone or don't like someone, they DESERVE to hear the gospel, to experience the joy that we receive from knowing the Plan of salvation, about the atonement, families are forever. Don't deny someone of learning about the gospel.

Now I'll tell you about the missionaries here... The other sisters that are in my ward live with two other sisters from another ward. SO 4 in their apartment. They thought they were prepared... but soon enough they realized that they werent... they didn't have nearly as much water as they needed and they didnt' have candles... or food. When Sister Sanders bore her testimony she said that another of the sisters said that they were like the 5 virgins that weren't prepared. - how does that realate to our life? From the (i forgot the english word) but like the top... it looks like we are prepared. but when it gets to the middle we find out that we really arent but its aloready too late to do anything about it. . . and then today in personal study I read in 2nephi 28 about how if you think you don't need anymore goeple that is when you are dumb.. you can never get enough knowledge... or in other words you can never be too prepared for anything. you will always need somehting. So, kinahanglan kita dapat repent NOW, just start now, and try your best and IF you have done your best, the savior will make up the difference. You dont want to get to the other side and try to repent... cause I gaurentee that it will be 4444444444400000008888 times harder because NOW this thime NOIW is the time of our probation.

This not is only applicable to repentance, but to your knowledge of the Savior, or of the book of mormon. Prepare now and continue preparing for the rest of your life.

I am so glad that the people that I love so much here only experienced just a little bit of damage, but i still feel so bad for them... but I feel more pain in my heart for the people in tacloban.

I am so thankful for this gospel. I hope that You all find that same love that I have as you continue to prepare for eternal life.

Love, your sister missionary,
Sister Young

(: This week has been amazing!

You know, I love when I get to wake up to a rainy cloudy morning!! (: it reminds me of home, just a little bit, until the humidity hits in. But at least it was slightly cooler this morning for like 5 minutes!!!(:

This week has been one amazing week of growing! So many things have strengthened my testimony and humbled me and made me grow. First, Here in the Philippines on November 1 it is "All saints day" so everyone goes to the grave yard and mourns and says prayers and stuff for their dead loved ones. And as Missionaries, we get to go procelyte to them, and tell them about the plan of salvation, pray for them and give them hope! We went on october 31, we met some great people that were painting the graves and preparing for the next day. Oh, and grave yards here are not anything like in america. THey are so different, I can't even explain, I will just have to tell you when I get home, remind me!

anyways! As we would walk through the maze of dead people, there was people coming up to us wanting to know why we were there, or wanting to know what we had to offer. It was hard for me at first. I was shy and I didn't really know how to go about introducing the plan of happiness for them. But as we started we just were able to talk and testify that they would see their loved ones again. that Life doesn't end when you die. It was such a great experience. Then the next day we went... it was a lot harder cause that is the main day and there were so many people... liek .... you could barely walk there were so many people. But we were still able to share. It was amazing to me how many Less Active member came up to us and told us that they were less active mormons and they wanted our help. I wish that you could experience it. cause I can't really explain it really well.

Then, On saturday, Elder Neil. L. Anderson, of the 12 came to our mission! With L. Whitney Clayton of the 70. We had a meeting with them. It was so amazing. It is so amazing that I am not going to share with you what was said or what I felt, but I have gained so much knowledge about how to better be a good member of this church, how I can be a better teacher, how I can enherit the kingdom of heaven. If you can imagine this just for a second..... we had 5 members of the 70 with us and an apostle of the lord, along with my Mission President and his wife, and 234 missionaries. If you can imagine that spirit.... it would knock you over. literally. I know it did me. 

Yesterday, on sunday, Elder L. Whitney Clayton came to our stake and spoke. I was so humbled to see how many people showed up. A bunch of less actives, a bunch of investigators, and even one of our OYM's(which is liek we just met someone on the street and got a return appointment) came and brought his family. Then I was even more humbled when Elder Clayton said that He wanted to shake everyone's hand and how people were not really Running, but tyhey were running to shake his hand. And then watching them cry as they were filled with the spirit. It was so humbling to me. In america, we kind of take those things for granted, no? but here, it is such a big deal. If everyone in america acted as if they acted, wow.  It just testified to me how the lord truely does call men to represent him. and how people are affected so deeply and spiritually. Most of the people could not even understand him because he spoke in english, but it didn't matter, because the language of the spirit is universal.

Earlier, like on tuesday, I got a package from Aunt Crystal!!! (I loved the Jelly beans and so did my companion and the elders that live across the street!)  But inside she put a talk that she had emailed to me quite some time ago that i never read, and put another copy for my companion. We read it as a companionship and it has changed our lives. not only our missionary lives but our future lives. I am so thankful that she did that. I had been praying for the knowledge that I was lacking so I could change, and it came, in a box full of jelly beans. (: Thank you. You answered my prayers, and you have made my companion and I stronger. We both felt impressed to give a copy to our mission President, so we did. We will see what he say....(: we also got in bound, like a book. Seriously, what a powerful talk. as we read it we could both feel the spirit so strong testifying to our hearts of the truthfulness of it. it was amazing. thank you.

On friday, or thrusday, or wednesday, I don't remember... we went to a referral and we were blown away!!! haha, not like that. We went into this house and Raffy is the dads name was telling us about his son who can sing so well. we didn't really believe him at first, and then he sang to us. Apparently they have him on youtube, look him up. It is Either Echo Claridad 7 years old... or angelico claridad 7 yeasrs old. I don't know. but listen to him! He is seriously amazing!

And on another not so spiritual note, my companion plucked My eyebrows... it hurt, but hey, I look better now(:

Okay, back to the spiritual stuff. (:

I've been impressed lately to be praying for you all to have missionary experiences. I don't know why, but I have been.. And I just want to tell you that you should not be afraid of them. If the Lord gives you an opportunity like that he will give you the words to say too, just listen. And remember every good thought comes from Him. (:

I love you family so much. I am so thankful for your love and support and prayers. And for your sacrifices. I can't imagine what I would be doing at home right now... there is so much I have to learn and Gain for my future family and there is only one place that I could learn all of them. and that Is here. In Bacolod. In the Philippines, all the way around the world. I am So blessed to be part of His army, to stand in His place, to say the things that He would say, and to do the things that He would do. It is amazing. THis work is true, The gospel is true. THe book of mormon is a book of truth. read it, ponder it, pray about it, live it, apply it, love it. as you do you will become strengthened just as I have. The words and the stories will come alive for you just like they have for me. It will bless your life.

I love you all!

Love, your sister missionary,

Sister Young(:

Shaking an Apostle's hand

Sister Young just finished shaking Elder Neil L. Anderson's hand.  You can see him just behind Sister Young.